Producers Seek Asian ‘Liaisons’

Hong Kong actress Cecilia Cheung, in black, South Korean actor Jang Dong-gun and Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi at a press conference for their new movie in Beijing on Monday.

With China’s Zhang Ziyi, Hong Kong’s Cecilia Cheung and South Korea’s Jang Dong-gun, backers of a Chinese movie version of the French novel “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” are aiming for broad Asian appeal.

The film, a co-production between China’s Zonbo Media and Singapore’s Homerun Asia, is the 13th film production of the novel, which includes a 1988 version starring John Malkovich known by the English name “Dangerous Liaisons.” With a budget of $30 million, the new Chinese version – “Weixian Guanxi” in Chinese — is set in Shanghai in the 1930s and features actors from some of Asia’s most influential markets in hopes of attracting big audiences.

Zonbo’s and Homerun Asia’s ambitions may appear modest when compared to filmmakers, producers and distributors who have their hopes set on global audiences. But Asia is ambitious enough, said producer Chen Weiming on the side of a press event Monday in Beijing. “We’re just too far from the U.S.,” Mr. Chen said “Asia is the first and most important step.”

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In June, film production company Legendary Entertainment, responsible for blockbuster hits “Inception” and “The Dark Knight,” joined forces with Chinese independent film company Huayi Brothers Media to produce films for the world. The two companies are among others who are aiming past China’s fast-growing but still modest movie business, which posted revenue of10.2 billion yuan ($1.53 billion) in 2010, up 64% from a year earlier.

So far, results are mixed. One of the bigger success was in television, where Chinese animated television series “Pleasant Goat and the Big Big Wolf” won distribution earlier this year in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, India, and the Philippines.

Targeting Asia’s movie-goers hasn’t been a major goal for China’s filmmakers as of late, as Asia offers a much smaller financial reward and is thus less enticing than the U.S.market. Films and movies from Taiwan and Hong Kong have had better distribution across Asia, although their film industries are now on the decline. Asia-Pacific is the third-largest market for distribution of Chinese domestic films behind North America and Europe, according to media research firm EntGroup Inc.

Even though Ms. Zhang won notice among American audiences after her prominent role in 2000’s “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon,” directed by Ang Lee, Mr. Chen reiterated that his goal is still to whet the appetite in the region.

“Actually the first major goal is just to start filming,” Mr. Chen said. Production will begin at the end of September.

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